A man photographs the ocean before the arrival of Hurricane Irma, in luquillo, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Irma roared into the Caribbean with record force early Wednesday, its 185-mph winds shaking homes and flooding buildings on a chain of small islands along a path toward Puerto Rico, Cuba and Hispaniola and a possible direct hit on densely populated South Florida. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

The National Weather Service director said Wednesday his staff is "very worried about the impact of winds and surge on the Keys" as Irma approaches.

RUSH TO GET OUT

Tourists are under a mandatory evacuation order, which began Wednesday morning.

Residents will then be ordered to evacuate, but many gas stations across southern Florida are experiencing shortages.

Though Florida law prohibits extreme price hikes for commodities such as food, water, hotels and lumber, it doesn't cover airlines tickets — that's up to federal regulators.

As a result, the sheer volume of tickets has spiked prices to a historic height, with one man telling The Associated Press he paid almost $2,000 to fly his relative to South Carolina.

NO SHELTER FOR THE CRIMINAL

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd posted on his official Twitter account Wednesday that deputies will check identification at the county's shelters -- and anyone with a warrant will be arrested and taken to "the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County Jail."

Judd also wrote that sex offenders and sex predators would not be admitted to the shelters.

HURRICANES JOSE, KATIA CLOSE BEHIND

Hurricane Katia formed Wednesday in the Gulf off the coast of Mexico with sustained winds of 75 mph; mere minutes after the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Jose had formed in the open Atlantic, far from land and well east of Hurricane Irma.

Jose has winds of 75 mph and is quickly strengthening, but poses no immediate threat to land.